Understanding HEVI-Shot’s Product Line

In 2000, HEVI-Shot started production with the goal of making waterfowl ammo that outperformed steel. To do this, they spent more than a year developing their own alloy mixture using tungsten and other metals. The result was a very heavy pellet far superior to steel. Given its density, it also outperformed lead. These “Heavier Than Lead” pellets are now known as HEVI-Shot’s own recipe of 12 g/cc tungsten pellets. Sometime along the way, HEVI-Shot also started crafting its own bismuth pellets.

As a small company, HEVI-Shot had to rely on outside vendors for components and some manufacturing help. For more than two decades, it did quite well for itself, yet still had challenges caused by this reliance on outside vendors. That changed two years ago when an ammunition powerhouse, Vista Outdoor, purchased HEVI-Shot. This is the same company that owns Federal, Speer/CCI, and Remington Ammunition. Literally overnight, HEVI-Shot had access to quality resources and deep pockets. As a result of this access to expanded resources, it is now in a much stronger competitive position.

Over the years, the list of products in HEVI-Shot’s catalog got long and complicated, containing many unique product names for each category of specific products. Admittingly, the company knew its catalog of products could make its customers dizzy, so last year it set about reevaluating its catalog, discontinuing many of its convoluted product names and streamlining the product line. Today, HEVI-Shot has approximately 110 specific loadings organized into 13 different product families: six for waterfowl, three for upland birds, three for turkey, and one for predator.

The key to understanding HEVI-Shot’s product line is grasping the overall strategy of pellet materials and stacked payloads. HEVI-Shot only loads non-toxic pellet materials: steel, bismuth, or tungsten. Of these three shot materials, steel has the lightest density (7.8 g/cc). Bismuth is next (9.6 g/cc), and tungsten is the heaviest (12 g/cc).

HEVI-Shot also loads a full line of turkey-hunting ammo using ultra-dense tungsten super shot (TSS) pellets that have a density of 18 g/cc. Although HEVI-Shot is justifiably proud of its 12-g/cc tungsten, it decided to listen to its customers by offering turkey loads using sourced TSS.

“The reason has to do with elementary physics,” says Scott Turner, HEVI-Shot and Federal Ammunition shotshell product line manager. “A denser (heavier) material will carry its velocity and penetration energy longer. This means it will hit harder (faster) as well as carrying its lethality (in foot-pounds) out to greater distances, a decided advantage for turkey hunters.”

Density also affects shot size. A one-centimeter cube of steel weighs a lot less than a one-centimeter cube of bismuth or tungsten. Because bismuth is 22 percent denser than steel, hunters can choose loads that are one size smaller than steel, yet still have the same or better lethality. Using tungsten, hunters can choose three sizes smaller.

According to Turner, a smaller-sized projectible penetrates deeper, enhancing overall lethality. “In other words, No. 9 shot creates a deeper wound channel than the much larger No. 2 shot,” he says. “The size of shot also affects pellet count. You can fit a lot more No. 9s than No. 2s in a three-inch shotgun hull. So, broken down to basics, if you choose a shotshell that features a material that is denser than another, you will benefit by having more downrange energy, deeper penetration, and/or higher pellet counts, which leads to fuller patterns with more hits on target at longer distances.”

Beyond that, HEVI-Shot shells are loaded with either straight or stacked payloads. A straight payload means the shell contains only one material. A stacked shell contains multiple shot types in one shell. For HEVI-Shot, that means a layer of steel pellets and a layer of bismuth pellets loaded in the same shell. This stacked, dual-shot design improves a shotgun shell’s performance.

HEVI-Shot’s three shot materials and two payload types all have a specific purpose in its product line. Steel satisfies customers looking for a less-expensive option that is effective at close and medium distances. A load that has both steel and bismuth is a better solution because a stacked load offers an increase in overall lethal effectiveness, but adds only a modest price increase. Bismuth is slightly more expensive than steel, but its performance is closer to that of lead loads, so a load with 100-percent bismuth is an even better solution.   The HEVI-Bismuth line is also safe to shoot through any lead- or steel-rated shotgun due to the malleability of the material. Though more expensive that steel or bismuth, tungsten is by far the most effective of the three at distant targets.

 “As hunters, we invest a lot of time, money, and energy to put ourselves in a position of success,” Turner says. “HEVI-Shot was founded by passionate hunters with an unquenchable desire for better performance to achieve that edge.” 

Turner also says that retailers who are attending the 2023 SHOT Show should stop by booth #11838 for the unveiling of a new product called HEVI-Metal XTREME. (hevishot.com)